There is a point where we redefine ourselves from artist to business person....a fine line to walk...and lip synching clearly crosses it.

...along with skimpy garb taking precidence to the music you make...I cant tell you how many bikini drumming photo shoots I have to turn down to keep my integrity intact! (actually I think its the fear of waxing that keeps that in check ; )

I don't remember the year but the super Bowl was held here in Tampa Florida, and because of the hoopla and the big performance, both Whitney Houston and the Florida Orchestra played, lip-synced to prerecorded National Anthem. so Beyonce was not the first.

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I've never understood why lip-syncing is such a big deal. Performers augment their sound with all kinds of technology, add loops of pre-recorded performances, etc. They have their vocals tuned on the recordings, the drum parts quantized and half the bands replace members with session "ghost" players who don't get credit on the albums.

And this is not new! The Monkees were a manufactured act that couldn't even play any instruments when they released their first "album."

But Milli Vanilli gets ridiculed to the point where their careers end and one of the guy winds up killing himself over it? Really?

All things considered, I think the music business owes Milli Vanilli a huge apology. They were freaking pioneers!

This is funny. ironic funny. I remember the furore.

Not sure how I feel about this, Grea. Anything billed as live should be just that, otherwise its a scam.
On the flip side, we know the music business beyond a certain dollar threshold becomes more business product and less music. She laid out a slew of excuses.. unrehearsed, no sound check,etc etc...... and sang for the press instead to prove she could sing. Of course she can sing! Feeling a little guilt , I guess.

I just wondered about why I started this thread - it's a judgemental and negative premise, something I usually try to avoid (?). I suspect it's leftover resentment at my gym - which never plays music with a real drummer. I see it as a deliberate rejection of organic music which seems to have induced a little old lady panic.

Music's going the way of the manufacturing industry. More and more humans replaced by machines. So much of the art of the sculptor and craftsmen and women was superseded by mechanisation.

// end middle aged angst

Great point about Milli Vanilli. Seems the producer who hired the dancers to front the, um, enterprise, did just fine afterwards while the two guys wore all the flak. SNAFU

Her excuse says a lot - "I did not have time to rehearse with the orchestra" ... for a huge gig that absolutely had to be done perfectly. Dat's business, eh? A lot of pro sport doesn't look very sporting either - like Azarenka's questionable injury time out a few days ago.

During the last inauguration, Yo-Yo Ma played along to a pre-recorded piece because it was below freezing and there was concern that his cello wouldn't stay in tune and his fingers wouldn't be able to pull it off. It looked like he was playing and he was all pro about it, smiling and the whole bit ... I don't think I had much of an opinion on that at the time, other than maybe they shouldn't have asked him to play if he wasn't actually going to be able to play.

I must admit to feeling a little duped watching someone like Whitney or Beyonce belting it out only to find out that what I'm seeing isn't what I'm hearing. I know it's really them singing and they're great and all that, but it's not live and there's just something about it that doesn't sit right, like what's being heard isn't at all reflecting the energy surrounding the event, whether that be an inauguration or any live performance. I want whatever warts may come - pros can handle that.

I've never understood why lip-syncing is such a big deal. Performers augment their sound with all kinds of technology, add loops of pre-recorded performances, etc. They have their vocals tuned on the recordings, the drum parts quantized and half the bands replace members with session "ghost" players who don't get credit on the albums.

And this is not new! The Monkees were a manufactured act that couldn't even play any instruments when they released their first "album."

But Milli Vanilli gets ridiculed to the point where their careers end and one of the guy winds up killing himself over it? Really?

Beyonce has a great set of pipes. Why all the focus on her?

Baffles me. People are crazy.

+1.

Absolutely.

I’m not a fan of Beyondsay, but if we’re dissing lip-syncers, she’s just one in a looooooooooong line. And I never hear anybody complain about lip syncing in music videos.

The real difference is that they weren't even lip-synching to their own vocals!

See, I don’t even really care about that. For this sort of discussion, we’re talking about entertainers, not musicians per se. If Chic Corea faked it at a live show, I’d be disappointed. If Brittney actually sang live at a live show, I’d be gobsmacked.

The real difference is that they weren't even lip-synching to their own vocals! At least Beyonce, Britney, etc actually 'sing' to their own vocals.

Bermuda

That's the way I look at it... If someone is a bad/mediocre singer that can't pull off live OR in the studio without tricks and gadgets, it gets on my nerves. If someone is a killer singer, but chooses to pre-record for big performances, I don't really mind. That's not about talent to me.

I still think it's dumb. I'd rather perform poorly and be real than be a big fat phony in public. Some nights I may have wished I was just faking it, as I've definitely had bad shows... But you know, the whole artistic integrity thing gets in the way.

Fake playing to my own drumming would be just as fake... Maybe a touch less pathetic, but definitely still pathetic.

See, I don’t even really care about that. For this sort of discussion, we’re talking about entertainers, not musicians per se. If Chic Corea faked it at a live show, I’d be disappointed. If Brittney actually sang live at a live show, I’d be gobsmacked.

I think you pretty well nailed it.

I think the Beyonce mime was more newsworthy because of the scale of the event and she has a strong rep as a vocalist.

As for music videos, the best of them don't bother pretending that they're actually playing - it's more like they use the visuals of a musical performance as the basis for abstract video art:

See, I don’t even really care about that. For this sort of discussion, we’re talking about entertainers, not musicians per se. If Chic Corea faked it at a live show, I’d be disappointed. If Brittney actually sang live at a live show, I’d be gobsmacked.

Having heard Britney sing live at show (her mic was on and she didn't know it), I think your gobsmacking would switch to disappointment in no time.

Add it to the already existing pile of American entertainment sewage that is popular.

Represents the people at large and their inability to understand, tolerate or discern what is good on their own. The power of all the people on Madison Ave have shoved this trash so far down their throats that they actually believe it's good.

Lip syncing is an attempt to defeat Murphy's Law ("Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong"). At a major event such as the Super Bowl or an inauguration, you don't leave anything to chance. We live in a pre-recorded society these days where everyone expects perfection, so lip syncing shouldn't be a shock to anyone.

..and honestly, half the bands I hear SHOULD be lip syncing.

and p.s., Yo Yo Ma faked his cello performance in 2009 at the inauguration ceremony. So yes, even great musicians do it.

I don't remember the year but the super Bowl was held here in Tampa Florida, and because of the hoopla and the big performance, both Whitney Houston and the Florida Orchestra played, lip-synced to prerecorded National Anthem. so Beyonce was not the first.

It's become NORMAL for these events, where you have NO time to setup and NO time to make sure everything is working. The show must go ON.

Sad how it's become but it's true. The only item live, typically, in these settings, is the main performer's mic. And that's if he/she wants to even sing or not.